CORRODED WATER PIPES

I was having a look to-day at Liam McShanes car for a coolant leak, one of the main front to rear metal water pipes has rotted through at the front of the car. The hole in the pipe is up in the tunnel so access is very limited. Has anyone had the pleasure of changing these pipes before or know of an alternative repair. To change the pipes it looks like everything at the rear of the car must be removed, is this correct? The car is a turbo model and has therefore limited room to position copper pipes without removing the old pipes.

Oh dear! According to the manual its an engine out job to replace them....I say them, in that whilst its all in bits it would be better to replace both. The pipes cost about £150-170 each!!!!!!! Maybe someone else can come up with a solution......surely there must be a way of replacing metal with plastic or rubber????

[simontaylor]

I know of someone with a Ferrari 308 and he had to replace some heath robinson sounding set up of about 4 ali pipes and rubber connecting pipes between the rear engine and front rad, times 2 (flow and return). He replaced it with a a silocone tube I think. I'll get his supplier's details, he just needed straight lengths, no bends at the ends.

richard

because of the crank in the pipes at the engine end its basically an engine out job - as far as i know they are available even if its with simons in germany - they are fairly robust in my experience unless the car gets a bang and they get a kink - so not worth really spending a lot more on long lasting replacements unless you plan to keep the car more than 15 years!

[stephendell]

Definately engine out to replace completely and properly.

Otherwise if the damage is isolated you can 'peel back' or cut out the covering chassis plate section, cut out the rotten section and add a new piece of pipe with a joining hose. Then weld or pop rivet the chassis plate back in.

Alternatively you can crush and bend the original pipes to remove them with the engine in place and feed replacements back in sections like a chimney sweeps brush (preferably in stainless steel with silicone joints).

Also I can't see any reason why you couldn't replace the whole length with silicone hose although this would be expensive.

thanks stephen, maybe the silicon route would work best. if i cut off the bend at the engine end i take it that i could bring out the straight section of pipe through the front or the rear of the car, knowing that it has to be 'crushed' to bring it out?

for god's sake richard its only 6 bolts to drop the engine out - are you loosing your nerve!